NFC Playoff Picture: Eagles locked in to No. 2 seed after Vikings beat Packers

Philadelphia has been officially eliminated from first-round bye contention ahead of Week 18.

The Philadelphia Eagles entered Week 17 with a small chance of still getting the No. 1 seed.

The Birds did their part by demolishing the Dallas Cowboys.

But they did not get the necessary help. The Eagles needed a Green Bay Packers win over the Minnesota Vikings, which did not happen.

And so now we know that the Eagles are officially locked in to the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff picture. They will host the No. 7 seed in the wild card round of the 2025 NFL playoffs.

As of this original publish time, the Washington Commanders are currently in the No. 7 slot. But they could move up to No. 6 with a win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night PLUS a Week 18 win over the Dallas Cowboys. In that event, the Packers would drop to No. 7 and come to Philly in the first round.

We’ll see how that goes.

The silver lining to the Eagles being officially eliminated from No. 1 seed contention is that they now have the option to rest players in a meaningless Week 18 home game against the New York Giants. Losing that game would actually be ideal in terms of ruining the Giants’ draft positioning, which already took a hit with their unexpected win over the Indianapolis Colts earlier today.

Of course, there are other considerations at play. Do the Eagles want to get Jalen Hurts some work in Week 18, assuming he’s cleared to play? Do the Eagles want to let Saquon Barkley chase Eric Dickerson’s single-season NFL rushing record?

Here’s the entire current NFC playoff picture.

PROJECTED PLAYOFF TEAMS

z = clinched division
y = clinched wild card
x = clinched playoff berth

*Teams have yet to play in Week 17.

DIVISION LEADERS

1) x – Minnesota Vikings: 14-2
2) z – Philadelphia Eagles: 13-3
3) Los Angeles Rams: 10-6
4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 9-7

WILD CARD TEAMS

5) x – Detroit Lions: 13-2*
6) y – Green Bay Packers: 11-5
7) Washington Commanders: 10-5*

…

ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

IN THE HUNT

8) Seattle Seahawks: 9-7
9) Atlanta Falcons: 8-7*

…

OFFICIALLY ELIMINATED

10) Dallas Cowboys: 7-9
11) Arizona Cardinals: 7-9
12) San Francisco 49ers: 6-9*
13) New Orleans Saints: 5-11
14) Chicago Bears: 4-12
15) Carolina Panthers: 4-12
16) New York Giants: 3-13